Improvement in button-hole-stitching machines



n. w. e. HUMPHRE-Y,

improvement in Button Hole Stitching-Machines.

510.115,857. l Patenedjune13,l871.

nasse UNITED STATES DANIEL W. GP. HMPHREY, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR T() HIMSELF AND EUGENE HUMPHREY, OF SAME PLACE.

lMPROVEMENT IN BUTTON-HOLE-STITCHING MCHlNES.

Spccication'forming part of 'LettersA Patent No. 115,857, dated June 13,187i.

I, DANIEL W. G. HUMPHREY, of Chelsea, in the county ci' Suffolk andCommonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements inButton-Hole-Stitching Maeliines,.of which the following isaspecification:

My present invention is an .improvement upon the machine patented by meOctober 7, 1862; and consists in a new device for feeding or movingalong the clamp which holds the work to be stitched, and thus spacingthe stitches regularly on the edges oi' the buttonhole. y

In my former invention I used a single feedwheel, lying horizontally ina recess in the-table under the slotted plate on which the clamp moved,and operated the clamp, in some-respects, similar tomy present mode.That dey vice is very restricted in its range of work, and

a change of feed-wheels is necessary to adapt the machine to iine,medium, and coarse stitching.

It is necessary, in stitching the round part l or eye ofthe button-hole,to turn the clamp faster than itis moved when stitchin g the sides ofthehole, in order not to take a disproportionate number of stitches in theeye of the button-hole. This accelerated movement, of the clamp isaccomplished in my former invention by a mechanism which is operated bya groove in the underside of the feed-wheel, and increases the throw ofthe lever which, turns the' wheel, and causes the ratchet on said leverto take more or less teeth 'at a throw, and thus to turn the wheelfaster when stitching around the eye than when stitching the sides ofthe button-hole. This device is complicated, and liable to derangementin practical use, and is also restricted in its adjustment and harsh inits operation.

My present invention is a more simple and less expensive mode ofattaining the desired result, and enlarges the range ofthe machine forpractical work. f

The following is a description of the parts and operation of myimprovement,` reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 represents my `new feeding device in working position in itsrecess in the table of the machine, and is drawn half-size.

A and B are cams, having spiral grooves s s.

R is a toothed rin g, having on one side a swinging arm, a, (more fullyshown in Figs: 4 and 5,) which is riveted to its underside, and projectsupthrough the ring at the point a; this ring turns upon the hub h, whichis part of the bed or table of the machine. The hub h has a recess inone side at c, to allow said swinging arm or follower a to pass theclamp- Vpin after moving it around to that point, as

hereinafter described.

The cam B is the reverse of cam A, and both have gears on their undersides'oi' the same diameter as the ring R, and which work in the teethof said ring. The plate on which the clamp that holds the work to bestitched is moved, and which, when vin working position, is screwed downto the table and covers said cams and ring, is not shown in Fig. l; butthe dotted lines o o o indicate the slot in said plate through which theclamp-pin projects down into the grooves in said cams.

- Fig. 2 is a vertical section, cut down through the center of the camsA and B and ring it, and through the clamp and plate'over the sainewhenthe several parts are all in proper working position.

p is the clamp-pin, in its hollow post 5 1,the base of the clamp; and b,the button on the plate m, on which the base of the clamp moves, andthrough which the upper needle descends and ascends in stitching thebutton-hole. o r are the shafts of the feed-cams A and B. r is aratchet-wheel on the shaft of cam A; e, a ratchet attached to thereciprocating lever w for moying said wheel. Any suitable mechanism,whether a ratchet-wheel or friction-wheel, may be employed here forturning the feedcamS, and the throw of said cams may be restrained, ifnecessary, by the application of friction in any convenient manner.

Fig. 3 represents a section of the plate m, with the base of the clamp din position ready to swing around the plate-button b to stitch the eyeof the button-hole.

The. practical operation oi' the described parts is as follows: Afterplacing the clamp upon the plate, with its aperture w, Fig. 3, over the'plate-button b, and pushing its edges under the anges of said buttonuntil the pin p will go down through the slot o in the plate andv intothe groove s in the cam A, Fig. l, then a regular reciprocating movementis given to lever w, Fig. 2, which, through the ratchet e and wheel Jr,imparts an intermittent rotary mot-ion to cam A, and, through the gear gun der said cam, to the ring R, and through the ring R to the cam B, inthe direction indicat` ed by the arrows, Fig. l 5 and, at the same time,the clamp carrying the work to be stitched is moved forward by'thespiral groove s working against its pin p, and is guided by the slot oin the plate m, and the button b, and thus the ring R, as shown in Fig.l, when the follower' a on said ring immediately acts against said pinand carries it through the circular part of the slot in said plate inone-half a revolution of said cams and ring, thus spacing the stitchesaround the eyeof the button-hole uniformly and in the proportion ofoneto live on the sides. Now, when the clamp-pin comes in contact, afterswinging around the eye, with the side of the slot in the plate over camB, the follower a retreats into the recess of the hub h at c and passessaid pin, while the outer point of the groove s in calnB passes underand around said pin and regularly feeds it toward the center of saidcam, and thus spaces the stitches on the remaining side of thebuttonhole and completes the same.

By the use of separate feed-wheels or cams for spacing the stitches onthe sides of the button-hole, and working, as shown, in conjunction withan intermediate ring for spacing the stitches around theeye, any desiredproportion of stitches around the eye maybe provided for by varying theform of the spiral grooves in the feed-cams, so that the clamp-pin shallbe made to travel the length of the side of the button-hole and bedelivered onto the ring to turn the eye in a` greater or .lesser numberof revolutions of the cams tothe half-revolution ofthe ring, and whenthe proper proportion of stitches is thus established between the eyeand sides of the button-hole, the machine is adapted, Without change ofwheels, to stitch from the iinest to the coarsest work, as a Va riationof the spacing of i the stitches on the side of the button-hole, whichmay be effected as easily as a change ofl length of stitch in a commonsewing-machine, will produce a proportionate variationv in the spacingof the stitches about the eye ofthe buttonhole. The spacing of thestitches, both on the sides and eye of the hole, is accomplishedbythislimprovement in a more simple and reliable manner, and withoutvarying the uniform movement of the feed-cams while stitching thebutton-hole.

l ,claim as my invention- The two separate feed-cams for spacing thestitches on the sides of the butto11hole,in combination with anintermediate ring for spacing the stitches around the eyeof thebuttonhole, substantially as described.

. DANIEL W. G. HUMPHREY.

Witnesses:

E. F. HALL, EBEN HU'rcirNsoN.

